DanielThomas

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Software company Autonomy Corp. PLC (AU.LN) Tuesday beat analyst expectations by posting a 44% rise in fourth-quarter net profit, and said that it could benefit from the subprime mortgage crisis as regulators push banks to adopt its technology.

The Cambridge, England-based FTSE-250 information-retrieval software company said net profit for the three months ended Dec. 31 jumped 44% to $22.7 million from $15.85 million the previous year, driven by its $375 million acquisition of Zantaz.

Despite current economic uncertainty, the company has seen no changes to trading conditions, and is confident about its outlook for the business, said Chief Executive Mike Lynch in a statement.

"We are seeing continuing strength as the momentum of the revolution towards unstructured information gathers pace," said Lynch in the statement. "Even the effect of the subprime crisis appears now to be a positive for our business."

Revenue increased 57% to $115 million from $72 million a year earlier, while adjusted pretax profit increased 63.5% to $41 million from $25.8 million, both ahead of expectations. Analysts had expected revenue of $114 million and adjusted pretax profit of $40 million. Earnings per share were 13 cents compared to forecasts of 12 cents.

Despite recent concerns among financial experts that the IT industry may suffer from banks cutting budgets amid the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis, Autonomy has recently struck a number of deals, including one with Lloyds TSB Group PLC
LYG, -1.57%
and its biggest ever deal, a $70 million contract with an unnamed bank.

Autonomy acquired the information-retrieval software firm Zantaz last July for $375 million, helping it cash in on U.S. regulatory requirements that order companies to provide unstructured data, such as e-mails and phone records, within 99 days for the purpose of lawsuits.

Autonomy's shares Monday closed at 845 pence, up 58% over the past 12 months but 22% below their 52-week high of 1083 pence on Nov. 1, 2007.

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